


Working Girl

by vivaforever597



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 16:22:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6335971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivaforever597/pseuds/vivaforever597
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eli, a successful party planner, gets an unexpected call from Nozomi, her first crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working Girl

**Author's Note:**

> [It's so hard, it's so hard for a working girl.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guLguSMpFkY)
> 
>  
> 
> AU where µ's never happened. Also, follows the manga verse where Nozomi is president of the occult club, and she and Eli don't really know each other in high school.
> 
> I had to try so hard to keep myself from making references to Fuller House. Do it Gibbler Style!

The phone rings. I almost don’t answer it because it’s been a very long day and all I really want now is to put my feet up and have a little warm sake, but I decide to anyway. That’s the thing about self-employment: you’re never off the clock.

“Ayase Parties,” I answer, trying not to let the sound of a sigh come through my words. “This is Eli Ayase. How can I help you?”

“Hi, Eli. This is Nozomi Tojo,” says the voice at the other end. “You probably don’t remember, but we were at Otonoki together. I was the president of the occult club while you were on student council.”

I almost drop the phone and have to fumble to keep it from falling to the ground. How could I have forgotten her? For as strange as she was, she had an undeniable appeal. Publicly, I’d kept my distance from her – I was too level-headed to associate with someone who seemed to think The X Files was a documentary series – but privately, I’d spent more than a few moments fantasizing about her. Sitting and chatting with her, holding her hands, stroking her face – it looked so soft...

I shake myself back into reality. “Oh, no, no, I remember you,” I stutter. “How can I help you?” I cringe, realizing I’ve just used the same sentence twice in the space of about 15 seconds. She must think I’m an airhead...

“Well, I want to throw a surprise birthday party for my friend – Nico Yazawa, do you remember her?” Oh, yes, I certainly do. The girl who seemed to think she was too good for the rest of us. Not as haughty as the Nishikino girl, but she certainly thought a great deal of herself. “She’s turning 22 in a month,” Nozomi is saying, not having waited for an answer to her question. “Her mother’s always been too busy to do anything special for her birthdays, so I wanted to give her something to remember, you know?”

“Uh-huh.” I collect myself; I’m already going into professional planner mode. “Do you have a theme in mind? What kind of budget are you looking at?”

“Nicocchi loves idols,” Nozomi says. “Do you think you could theme it around that? I’d like to have a stage. Then she can get up and sing for everyone at the end. She’d love that.” _Oh, I’m sure she would_ , I think. _She was quite the glutton for attention in high school._

“I think it would be better to discuss all this in person, though, don’t you?” Nozomi continues. “Is there a time we could meet in the next couple of days?”

“O-of course. Let me open my calendar.” I ignore my stomach dropping. “Um, I have tomorrow afternoon open after 2:00. Would that work for you?”

“3:00 would be fine,” Nozomi says sweetly. “Should I meet you at your office?”

I shoot a frightened look around my “office” – my small apartment, papers and clothes lying about. That would never do. “I’m afraid I ... don’t have a physical office,” I say. “I normally meet with clients at the party sites.”

“Oh, I see. Well then, would you be able to meet me at my apartment tomorrow at 3:00 then?”

I gulp. “That will be fine,” I say. “What’s your address?” I mechanically copy it down as she recites it.

“All right,” I say. “I’ll see you tomorrow at 3:00. Thank you for calling Ayase Parties.”

“Thank you very much,” Nozomi says. “It was nice talking to you, Eli. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“It was ... nice talking to you too, Nozomi,” I say. “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Eli!”

“Goodbye.”

I hang up. I’m an adult, a professional woman, but the thought of going to her home is a little intimidating. Old crushes die hard, I guess. _I can do this_ , I tell myself. _I can treat her like any other client_. But I know I’m kidding myself. Talking to her has suddenly resurrected all those feelings, the ones I finally couldn’t deny, the ones that clearly told me, _you’re gay_.

But money is money, I decide. I’ll get through it fine. Maybe we’ll even end up as... friends.

I try not to let my imagination run away with me – I don’t even know if she likes girls, though Otonoki seemed to have an abundance of us – and keep my mind firmly on the money. But that’s another battle I’ve lost before I started.


End file.
